For women with advanced or metastatic endometrial cancer, a new analysis brings encouraging news. Adding immunotherapy drugs (PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors) to standard chemotherapy helped them live longer than chemo alone.
The analysis pooled data from multiple trials involving over 4,000 women. Those who got the combination lived a median of 43.7 months, compared to 29.1 months with chemo alone. That is a gain of more than 14 months. The combo also delayed cancer progression (14.6 vs. 10.2 months) and led to more complete responses.
However, the benefit was clearer in women with a specific tumor feature called dMMR. For those with pMMR tumors, the progression benefit held but the survival advantage did not. Side effects like fatigue, nausea, and nerve pain were common in both groups.
This is a meta-analysis, meaning it combines results from several studies. While powerful, it cannot replace a head-to-head trial. Still, for many women, this combo could be a meaningful step forward.